John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How is the Morrison government's responsible fiscal management building the resilience of our economy and protecting Australians from threats like the coronavirus? Will the Treasurer remind the House why a calm and considered approach is important when facing challenges like this?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bennelong for his question and note his deep commitment, like that of all members on this side of the House, to strong economic management and the creation of more jobs. When we came to government, unemployment was 5.7 per cent. Today it's 5.1 per cent. When we came to government, we inherited a budget deficit of $48½ billion, or three per cent of GDP. Today we have the first balanced budget in 11 years. When we came to government, under Labor in their last year, 62,000 small businesses closed their doors. In the last reported year, under the coalition, 75,000 small businesses were created. This is why, under disciplined economic management by the coalition, we've got the first current account surplus in more than 40 years, we've got the lowest welfare dependency in 30 years, we've got the biggest tax cuts in more than 20 years and we have the first balanced budget in 11 years. This has given us the flexibility to respond to economic crises that are beyond our control.

We've had the ongoing drought, and our thoughts are with all those families and communities affected. We have announced $1.3 billion of commitments since the election on top of everything else that we have announced. When it comes to the fires, we have announced an additional $2 billion through a national bushfire recovery fund. And we've made these initiatives without increasing taxes, which those opposite would have done. Indeed, when the Labor Party went to the last election, they were promising $387 billion of higher taxes—taxes that are still on their books. Could you imagine responding to the virus, the drought, the floods, the fires and the trade tensions by whacking $387 billion of higher taxes on the people of Australia? Only those geniuses, the member for Rankin—Sir Tax-a-lot—and the member for McMahon, with their $387 billion of higher taxes that they came up with.

The reality is that, when it comes to responding to the virus, we are taking the measures necessary to protect Australians. It will have a significant impact on the Australian economy, but we are prepared. We have the fiscal flexibility to respond to economic crises whenever they may occur. Under this government, more jobs are being created, the budget is back in balance and tax cuts have been provided to millions of Australians.